The washing, cleaning, and care of one's own body is a basic human need, and modern industry is continually attempting to meet these human needs in a variety of ways. Especially important for daily hygiene is the lasting elimination or at least reduction of body odor and axillary moisture. Numerous specific deodorizing or antiperspirant body care agents developed for use in body regions having a high density of sweat glands, particularly in the axillary region, are known in the prior art. Said body care agents are formulated in a wide range of product forms, for example as a powder, stick, aerosol spray, pump spray, liquid and gel roll-on application, cream, gel, and impregnated flexible substrates (deodorant wipes).
Cosmetic antiperspirants of the prior art include, in addition to at least one oil or wax and one odorous substance component or perfume, at least one antiperspirant compound, particularly in the form of aluminum and/or zirconium halides and/or hydroxyhalides. Said antiperspirant compounds reduce the secretion of sweat of the body by temporarily constricting and/or plugging the excretory ducts of the sweat glands so that the amount of sweat can be reduced by approximately 20 to 60 percent. Furthermore, said antiperspirant compounds have an additional deodorizing effect because of the antimicrobial action of said antiperspirant compounds.
Aluminum and/or zirconium halides and/or hydroxyhalides, in conjunction with the acidic pH value of these antiperspirants, can lead to unpleasant skin reactions for some users. Furthermore, the use of the aforementioned antiperspirant compounds can lead to stains on clothing.
Therefore, there is a need for replacing antiperspirant aluminum and/or zirconium halides and/or hydroxyhalides with other antiperspirant cosmetic active substances. Said antiperspirant active substances should have good antiperspirant action and good skin compatibility and should be easy to formulate. Furthermore, said antiperspirant active substances should not have a negative effect on the storage stability of the antiperspirant cosmetic agents.
The present invention addresses the problem of providing an antiperspirant cosmetic agent that avoids or at least lessens the disadvantages of the prior art and that has good skin compatibility and also reliably reduces axillary moisture. Furthermore, the antiperspirant cosmetic agent should have high storage stability.
It has now surprisingly been found that, if at least one protein from legumes of the genus Pisum and/or Phaseolus and/or Vigna and/or Macrotyloma or from cruciferous plants of the genus Brassica that causes a change in the light absorption of 1 to 100% in the event of a change in the pH value of at least 0.5 in a pH range of pH 4.0 to pH 8.0 is used in cosmetic agents without antiperspirant aluminum and/or zirconium halides and/or hydroxyhalides, the result is antiperspirant action that is nearly comparable to the antiperspirant action of formulations having aluminum salts and/or aluminum-zirconium complexes.
Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with this background of the invention.